Articles by S Ambirajan

Understanding Development: People, Markets and the State in Mixed Economies by Ignacy Sachs; Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000; pp ix + 204, Rs 450.

Market and media act symbiotically to produce culture. Economic globalisation also means a global culture. Economies of scale apply here too, and the movement is towards uniformity and regimentation. Cultures of minorities are lost and the trivial gains at the cost of the serious.

Competitive populism of political parties has led to a distortion of the subsidy system in India. This article examines the nature, causes and consequences of the growth of subsidies in Tamil Nadu. Any study of subsidies has to take into account the political economy of their structure and functioning. Besides statistics, there is qualitative evidence to show that the subsidy system in Tamil Nadu is wasteful, corrupt, regressive and counter-productive. The two major political parties are locked in an unhealthy Nash equilibrium of inefficient populism.

Colonialism and Industry in South India S Ambirajan Colonialism, Chemical Technology and Industry in Southern India 1880-1937 by Nasir Tyabji; Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1995; pp x+242, Rs 395.